TORONTO – The YouTube channel showcasing classic Canadian content has attracted almost 30,000 subscribers in its first year.
Encore+ said that its curated, iconic Canadian content has been viewed nearly 6.2 million times, with 54% of views coming from within Canada and 46% from elsewhere, primarily the U.S. With 1,647 pieces of individual content, including feature-length films, shorts, documentaries, drama series, children’s and youth content, some of the most popular English-language titles include Mr. Dressup; Are You Afraid of the Dark?; Deaf Planet; This Is Wonderland; The Littlest Hobo; National Parks Project and Ready or Not. French-speaking fans are coming back for more of La Petite Vie; Meilleur que le chocolat; Délivrez-moi; Minuit, le soir; Pin-Pon, and Cornemuse.
Working closely with Canada’s film and television producers, distributors, broadcasters, unions, guilds and other industry associations, Encore+ is spearheaded by the Canada Media Fund (CMF) with support from Google Canada, Bell Media, BroadbandTV (BBTV), and Deluxe Toronto. Telefilm Canada is also a key partner in this endeavor, providing financial and promotional support.
“Encore+ has been a labour of love,” said CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton, in the news release. “It now seems like years ago when we first started working on the project. After many years of discussion with the industry and the highly successful launch last year, I couldn’t be prouder of our work on Encore+ alongside our industry partners, as well as the demonstrated results. We’ve given new life to iconic Canadian content. Thanks to this channel, rights holders are monetizing and preserving their legacy titles, with new generations of Canadians, as well as audiences around the world rediscovering childhood favourites and memorable Canadian stories.”
